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Friday, 28 August 2015

The Comfiest Skirt Ever

These pictures are rubbish. They do not convey the awesomeness that has landed in my wardrobe. This is the third and final garment I have to post about that was created from my haul of free fabric from Girl Charlee. If you have yet to enter the free fabric giveaway and live in Europe, then you still have a few days to do so. Maybe this post will sway you towards picking the Ponte de Roma...

Pattern:

So, I need to back up a bit. Back at the very beginning of this year, I decided to try wearing a knit skirt in the hope that I could combine the look of wearing a pencil skirt with the comfiness of wearing jeggings (bliss?!). I bought and tried the Colette Patterns Mabel skirt pattern (take one and take two), but there were things that I disliked about it. Despite its flaws however, I wore the second attempt quite a lot during Me-Made-May'15 so I felt that I was on the right track.

Lynn from Tialys blog left a helpful comment on my Mabel skirt take two post mentioning Gertie's easy knit skirt pattern from her Gertie Sews Vintage Casual book (pictured above). As luck would have it, I received a copy of the book last Christmas but I hadn't tried any of the patterns from it. The easy knit skirt pattern (pictured below) was potentially just the ticket: pencil skirt shaped with elasticated waist. I decided it was worth a punt.

I have to mention this skirt pattern's major selling point: it consists of just one pattern piece. You cut one on the fold for the front, and one on the fold for the back. BOOM. According to the book's size chart, my measurements corresponded with one size for the hips and the next size up for the waist (although I can't remember exactly which sizes, and I am currently exiled upstairs in order to get this post done and the book is downstairs...) so I blended between the sizes which worked perfectly.

The instructions in the book recommended basting the side seams together and then popping the skirt on to see how the fit is going. I basted the seams together with a long straight stitch on my regular sewing machine, then having decided that I needed to pinch out 1cm from each side seam evenly all the way down (so removing 4cm of width in total) I restitched the side seams with my overlocker.

Apologies for the ugliest/most boring picture ever above! The elastic is stitched into a loop, then attached to the top raw edge of the skirt (I did this with a three-step zigzag stitch on my regular sewing machine because I didn't want to risk cutting the elastic by using my overlocker) and then simple turned under so it is out of view. Having done that I then tried the skirt on again but decided the waistline was a bit too high for my liking. Instead of unpicking, I just turned the elastic under again and topstitching it in place with my twin needle, which I also used for the hem (which I made 3cm shorter than the pattern, BTW). The finish on the outside looks great, but the extra bulk I created by turning the waistband under makes the whole waistband slightly more visible through certain tops than I would have preferred. I'm over it though.

Fabric:

I've already talked briefly and at length about this navy Ponte de Roma, so I have little to add about it here, other than to point out that 2m gives you enough to make a Jenna cardi AND a pencil skirt. Which is pretty great, IMO.

Thoughts:

The title of this post may have given away how I feel about the finished garment. The pattern is exactly what I was hoping for from a knit skirt pattern, and it works really well in this lovely, soft, inky-blue knit. What I didn't expect, though, was just how much movement I have in this skirt; it's the leggings of the skirt world. There's enough movement for me to run about playgrounds, it's comfy enough around the waist to take long train rides and eat large dinners, AND it is long enough to pick stuff and children up off the floor without concern for my decency. Although it doesn't make for super-exciting photos, it is the Girl Charlee creation that I have worn the most, in fact I have barely taken this skirt off since finishing it. Expect more of these knits skirts coming soon...

Zoe! You look wonderful in this outfit! I can definitely sing the praises of a knit pencil skirt. I adore them! Ponte is also lovely - just that bit warmer than regular jersey for my cold Canadian winters.

Lovely skirt. I have made this one too. I loved the fact it is just one piece but I think that the drafting on the bigger size runs extremely large. I ended up having to take an inch of each side (4 inches in total) plus I pegged the bottom by another few cm as it was quite a square shape. Saying that my skirt is still too big. I do love it though and have some ponte for 2 more. They are very easy to wear and even though I made a big size only took me 0.8 of a metre which makes it a very cheap sew. Xx

I've made this skirt twice and I love them both. For me, it's the perfect fit. And the way the waistband is attached means it doesn't look like an elastic waistband. Your version looks great! Love the striped top too.

ha the leggings of the skirt world - what a perfect description! This skirt looks great, and I like the sound of that ponte. I just posted about a couple of knit skirts I made this summer - and have been wearing all the time so I get where you're coming from!